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NEWSLETTER May, 2013 + = = p^fkqp=mbqbo=^ka=m^ri=loqelalu=`ero`e NEWSLETTER May, 2013 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church A Parish of the Orthodox Church in America Archpriest John Udics, Rector Deacon Mark Bohush 305 Main Road, Herkimer, New York, 13350 Parish Web Page: www.cnyorthodoxchurch.org CHRIST IS RISEN! ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ! ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΗ! Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, May 2013 Parish Contact Information Clergy: Archpriest John Udics, Rector: (315) 866-3272 – [email protected] Deacon Mark Bohush – [email protected] Council President and Cemetery Director: John Ciko: (315) 866-5825 – [email protected] Council Secretary: Subdeacon Demetrios Richards (315) 865-5382 – [email protected] Sisterhood President: Rebecca Hawranick: (315) 822-6517 – [email protected] Birthdays in May 3 – Olga Hubiak 15 – Helen Gachowski 5 – Eva Ignafol 16 – Natalie Ptasznik 5 – Samantha Kinzey 26 – Samuel Kinzey 6 – Sandra Brelinsky 27 – John Kowansky 12 – Melissa Leigh 30 – Nancy Richards 13 – Susan Moore 31 – Anastasia Hawranick Memory Eternal 2 - Helen Nanoski 15 - Edmund Mamrosch Sr (1994) 2 - Paul Nadiak (1975) 16 - Panos Jarosz (1981) 2 - Anna Corman (2001) 16 - Mary Boguski (1983) 2 - Helen Nawoski (2004) 22 - Anne Williams (1988) 4 - Leon Lepkowski (1985) 24 - Kazmir Karpowich (1978) 7 - Harry Homyk Jr (1988) 24 - John Mezick (1988) 7 - William Steckler (2007) 24 - Metro Hrynda (1995) 9 - Harry Palyga (1976) 24 - Nicholas Tynda (1996) 9 - Frank Prawlocki 28 - Walter Alexczuk (1995) 11 - Catherine Foley (2002) 29 - Anna and Wasil Prawlocki 11 - Susan Moore (2008) 29 - Walter Prawlocki 15 - Walter Senyk (1991) 31 - Mary Pupcheck (1976) COFFEE HOUR HOSTS FOR MAY AND JUNE May 5 HOLY PASCHA June 2 Barb Daley and Cindy Sobolowski May 12 Mitch and Mary Jane Chlus June 9 Demetrios and Nancy Richards May 19 PASCHA DINNER June 16 Martha Mamrosch and Family May 26 Julie Todd and Family June 23 Becky Hawranick and Sonia Buttino June 30 Nick and Margaret Keblish SCHEDULE OF LENTEN AND PASCHAL SERVICES, 2013 April 28 Entrance of Our Lord Into Jerusalem Divine Liturgy 9:30 am May 1 HOLY WEDNESDAY Holy Unction 6:00 pm May 2 HOLY THURSDAY Vespers and Divine Liturgy 9:30 am HOLY THURSDAY Matins of the Twelve Gospels 6:00 pm May 3 HOLY FRIDAY Vespers - Burial Service, Procession 6:00 pm May 4 HOLY SATURDAY Vespers and Divine Liturgy 9:30 am Blessing Baskets 4 pm 2 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, May 2013 May 5 HOLY PASCHA Midnight Service 11:30 pm May 6 HOLY PASCHA Matins, Divine Liturgy, Blessing Baskets midnight May 7 HOLY PASCHA Vespers 1:00 pm May 8 BRIGHT MONDAY Divine Liturgy [Procession] 9:30 am QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Questions 139 through 144 are from Church School Children 139. On Good Friday, why do we walk around the church? As you know, in Church, we sometimes explain the way we do things as we act them out, or we demonstrate the actions we hear in the Gospels. The procession has the cross, the banners, the altar boys with their candles or torches, the fans, the plaschanitsa (winding sheet of the Lord) under which is the priest carrying the Book of the Gospels, followed by the choir and the faithful. This represents the followers of Jesus and His family taking Him to be buried in the tomb of Saint Joseph of Arimathea. The procession circles the church three times. 140. At midnight service, why did the altar boys wear a white robe before midnight? During Forgiveness Vespers at the beginning of Lent we changed vestments from gold to purple. At the end of Lent, during the Vesperal Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday, at the Prokeimenon “Arise, O God and judge the earth,” we change the vestments from purple to white. The Resurrection of the Lord is announced at this Liturgy, though we don’t sing “Christ is Risen” until matins in the morning. So it’s only proper for the altar boys and the clergy to wear white vestments on Holy Saturday and Pascha. In the Early Church, Holy Saturday was the day on which the catechumens were baptized. They wore their white baptismal garments after that. And the rest of the congregation joined them in this joyful festal celebration. 141. On Easter midnight service, why didn’t the other people walk around? At the midnight service, it’s very dark outside. Some people don’t have good eyesight and they could trip and fall walking around on the uneven ground around the church – so they stay back in the Church and help the workers place the flowers on the window sills and light candles and do other chores, as best they can. So the rest of us ‘stand in’ for them as we march around the church carrying our candles to light the way. 142. Why is Easter called Pascha? Pesach is the Jewish word for Passover, and in Greek we say Pascha. You know that Passover was the time when the Lord came to slay the Egyptians who wanted to force the Hebrews to stay in Egypt and be their slaves. This was a drastic and terrible thing. God told the Hebrews to mark their houses with blood, and to stay in their homes and eat a special meal, standing up and not sitting. In the meanwhile, the firstborn of the Egyptians were all slain by the angel of death. The Angel of the Lord passed over the houses of the Hebrews, so this feast is called Passover, or Pesach or Pascha. For us, when our Lord died on the cross, we call it the Passover of the Lord. We are not celebrating the feast of the Passover of the Old Testament, but we celebrate a new and wonderful Pascha. The word Easter comes from the name of a pagan god whose festival was about the same time as Pascha. The Christian Pascha replaced that festival, but some people continued using the Pagan name. 143. Why do we have to eat special Easter food? 3 Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church Newsletter, May 2013 We fasted from certain foods for forty days during Lent. Our diets were simplified and food was prepared in the simplest way. This reminds us of the time the Hebrews were in the desert and were fed by the Lord. We do this in order to prepare our bodies and make a place worthy for our Lord to enter in. The fast ends on Pascha, when we may return to eating the rich and fancy foods we used to eat. These foods, which we have blessed in our baskets, are special for Pascha time and are delicious. We are sometimes not used to them, so they may taste odd to us. But these were the foods our ancestors ate at this time of year. You don’t have to eat these foods, but you should at least have a taste of them in order to share in the festivities. 144. Why don’t we kneel after Easter? Kneeling is a sign of humility and we humbled ourselves during Lent for forty days. At Pascha, we have great joy because of the Resurrection of the Lord so we no longer kneel for fifty days until the feast of Pentecost. This doesn’t mean we no longer have to be humble, but we can put aside the symbols of humility, like kneeling and fasting so that we can celebrate the Great Feast in joy and light. 223. How do I find out who my patron saint is? How do I find out when my patron saint’s day is? First, check the calendar or the list of saints for saints with your same name. If your name is one which has more than one saint, for example John, you would choose among the saints for the one you like best, honor most or venerate sincerely. So you could pick between Saint John the Baptist, or Saint John the Evangelist, or Saint John the Russian or any other Saint John. If your Saint John has more than one date, you would pick the one closest to your birthday. You could also ask the priest who baptized you or ask your parents which saint they had in mind when you were named. Then you would look up on the calendar when that saint’s day is, and that would be the one for you. But – there’s no switching back and forth – the one you choose is the one you stick with. If your name is not a Christian name – that is, the name of a saint – you might do as the old time Russian priests did and choose a saint’s name from among those venerated on your birthday. Or, you could use your first initial and take a saint’s name with the same initial – if Frank is your name, you’d take F, and your baptismal name could be any saint whose name begins with F or Th. Russians didn’t have the letter Th, and to them, the closest sound was F. The Greeks did the same, and according to the way they heard things, someone named Jim or Jimmy would be baptized Demitrios. Or you might look at your middle name which might be a Christian name. The only restrictions are that you must be named for a saint on the calendar of saints, or a translation of that name, or a name found in Holy Scripture. 224. Now we tell people it’s good to go to Communion weekly, but in the Bible it says, ‘Go into your closet and pray’.
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